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Media/$9.95-er postgame analysis articles (Cotton Bowl)


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Collecting all the post-game analysis articles, including those behind paywalls, regarding the tOSU game here:

(Gerale Goodridge) No. 8 Ohio State 28, No. 5 Texas 14: Three things we learned

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The No. 5 Texas Longhorns had chances to draw the game even late, but once again red-zone miscues and self-inflicted wounds sent them to a loss to the No. 8 Ohio State Buckeyes, 28-14 at the Cotton Bowl in Arlington. Now, all the Longhorns can do is reflect on a season that was and hope they can reload for a 2025 run.

Red-zone play calling and execution finally cost Texas

After Ohio State put up a go-ahead touchdown drive with seven minutes left on the clock, Texas put together its own long drive that was shaping up to tie the game but once again ran into the boogieman that is red-zone scoring under head coach Steve Sarkisian. After getting stonewalled on first down, Sark dialed up a toss play that lost Texas seven yards, setting up two obvious passing downs.

Jack Sawyer tipped the third-down pass at the line and then stripped Quinn Ewers on the next play and returned it 83 yards for a score. Whether it was Oklahoma a year ago or on the final plays of the Sugar Bowl, Texas couldn't score from inside the crucial red zone, it turned out to be the difference in the game.

The defense had to carry the team for too long

Heading into the game, many didn’t give Texas much chance to slow down the Ohio State offense, and after a relatively easy scripted drive for the Buckeyes to start the game that resulted in a touchdown, the defense put the clamps on. Texas forced punts on four consecutive drives in the first half, including back-to-back three and outs, that Texas was unable to answer with anything productive until 29 seconds remained in the first half.

The defense once again forced turnovers and punts in the second half, but couldn’t put together one last stop in the fourth quarter when Ohio State scored a go-ahead touchdown with seven minutes remaining in the game. The offense, in obvious passing situation on the next drive, Ewers threw up a late prayer and Ohio State came away with the win.

Texas finally didn’t lay down in the third quarter

After Ohio State scored on a 75-yard screen to head into halftime, set up to try and go up two scores it could have been easy for the Longhorns’ usual third-quarter slump to put them into panic mode. Instead, the defense grabbed an interception and forced back-to-back punts, keeping the Buckeyes out of the end zone for the entirety of the quarter.

The offense, which struggled with complementary football throughout the season rewarded their efforts with a 12-play, 67-yard drive to tie the game at 14-14 late in the third quarter. While it didn’t turn out to be enough for the Longhorns to overcome the Buckeyes in the end, the third-quarter response from Texas finally came at the end.

Chris Vannini: Ohio State outlasts Texas in Cotton Bowl

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ARLINGTON, Texas — Through two College Football Playoff rounds, Ohio State looked like an unstoppable juggernaut. But deep in the heart of Texas, the Buckeyes had to fight, scratch and claw through enemy territory on their way to the national championship game. Ohio State beat Texas 28-14 in the Cotton Bowl semifinal, celebrating once again at the site where the program won its last national championship in 2015, and will head to Atlanta looking for another on Jan. 20. There the Buckeyes will take on Notre Dame, which beat Penn State in the Orange Bowl semifinal on Thursday night. A one-yard touchdown run by Quinshon Judkins with 7:02 to play proved to be the deciding score, a few plays after quarterback Will Howard pushed through the line to convert a fourth down and keep the drive alive. Texas’ ensuing drive came one yard away from tying the game with less than five minutes to play, but defensive end Jack Sawyer sacked Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers on fourth-and-goal and returned Ewers’ fumble 83 yards for a touchdown to put the game out of reach.

The Buckeyes continued their remarkable run in this CFP, seemingly sparked by the shocking 13-10 loss to Michigan on Nov. 30 in the regular season finale. That loss — Ohio State’s fourth in a row to its archrival, this time as a 19.5-point favorite — cost the Buckeyes a spot in the Big Ten championship and a potential bye in the CFP. It also prompted calls for head coach Ryan Day to be fired. But it turned into a galvanizing moment. Unlike some previous losses to Michigan, this one didn’t end the Buckeyes’ national title hopes. At Ohio State’s next practice, the group turned inward and found its focus, well aware of what the world said about them on the outside. The Buckeyes had been an absolute buzzsaw ever since, dispatching Tennessee 42-17 in a first-round home game and running through No. 1 seed and undefeated Oregon 41-21 in the Rose Bowl quarterfinal.

Early on, it looked like the Cotton Bowl semifinal would be the same story. A snowstorm that lasted from Thursday into Friday threatened to disrupt travel. More than 1,000 flights into and out of Dallas were canceled Thursday. But the sun was out and the snow melting by the time the game came around. Ohio State fans showed up in droves. What was thought to be a de facto Texas home game given the proximity turned out to have a sold-out crowd that felt more like a 50-50 split. The Buckeyes got off to yet another efficient start, scoring a touchdown on their opening drive for the third consecutive CFP game when Judkins took a handoff nine yards into the end zone.

But the offense began to sputter from there, largely because of self-inflicted mistakes. A personal foul on running back TreVeyon Henderson stopped the momentum of the second drive, leading to a punt. A wide receiver holding penalty on a run halted the third drive. Another holding penalty and a false start wiped out the third drive. It felt like Ohio State was carrying the play, especially as Texas’ offense kept running into roadblocks. But the Longhorns’ defense let Texas hang around, and facing fourth-and-1 at midfield with a minute left in the half, backup quarterback Arch Manning entered the game and ran to pick up the first down. A few plays later, Ewers found running back Jaydon Blue on a wheel route for a touchdown and, somehow, a tie game. But as soon as Texas climbed back into the game, Ohio State struck. Running back TreVeyon Henderson took a screen pass 75 yards for a touchdown on the very next offensive snap, giving Ohio State a 14-7 halftime lead.

Texas’ defense made clear all night that a Buckeye other than star freshman receiver Jeremiah Smith would have to be the one to beat them, bracketing Smith with double coverage all night. He finished with just one catch for three yards on three targets. When Howard forced a throw to him on the opening drive of the second half, Texas intercepted the pass. The Longhorns kept hanging onto the ropes, keeping a drive alive when Ewers tossed the ball to Blue while on the verge of getting sacked and Blue picked up the first down. A few plays later, Ewers found Blue on a wheel route touchdown for the second time, tying the game at 14 with 3:12 to play in the third quarter. But Ohio State won the fourth quarter. Texas responded to Judkins’ second touchdown by driving all the way down to the 1-yard line, primed to tie the game again. But an ill-advised running back toss on second-and-goal lost seven yards. Two plays later, Sawyer iced the game with the sack of Ewers, his former Ohio State roommate in 2021.

Just 41 days ago, Ohio State looked as down as it could be after the shocking loss to Michigan, one year after the Wolverines won the national championship. Sawyer was distraught over Michigan’s attempt to plant a flag on the Ohio Stadium turf, and the ensuing fracas saw players get pepper-sprayed. But the promise of the 12-team CFP was that one bad loss wouldn’t end your season. It wouldn’t end Sawyer’s national championship hopes. Ohio State was given another chance, and the Buckeyes have made the absolute most of it.

 

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All I want is a Texas coaching staff to get the team to execute at a high level regardless of talent level.  Royal is the last coach to do it.  He had talent and coached them to perform consistently.  Hasn't happened since him.  Sark hasn't done it.  He needs an outside voice to help improve the team.  If that doesn't happen, Texas will be looking for the next coach in a year few years.

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5 minutes ago, Monahorns said:

All I want is a Texas coaching staff to get the team to execute at a high level regardless of talent level.  Royal is the last coach to do it.  He had talent and coached them to perform consistently.  Hasn't happened since him.  Sark hasn't done it.  He needs an outside voice to help improve the team.  If that doesn't happen, Texas will be looking for the next coach in a year few years.

Need star players to make star plays, ours didn't, Barron with the biggest miss tackle of the season because he didn't even try to wrap up. 

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(Ian Boyd) Five quick thoughts: Ohio State ends the Texas season

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The Texas Longhorns are out of the playoffs in the semi-finals for the second year in a row. They had to go through a tougher path to reach the same level this year, but once again Texas is a final four squad that came short of being National Champions. It was a near thing just as it was a year ago when similar wheel routes to Jaydon Blue nearly put the Longhorns on top. Texas was in great position at multiple points in this game including in a 1st and goal situation from the 1-yard line with a chance to tie the game late in the fourth quarter. That advantageous situation quickly soured and evaporated into a 28-14 Ohio State victory after defensive end Jack Sawyer rudely sacked his former roommate Quinn Ewers, took the football, and ran it back for a touchdown. A hard-fought, back and forth contest where either team had moments where they seemed almost in control of the game ended in a bit of an anti-climactic fashion and with a Buckeye cover. Nevertheless, it was a strong performance by the Longhorns and another successful season for the Steve Sarkisian era.

Quick thought no. 1: Texas had a terrific defensive gameplan

It was, in fact, close to the gameplan I suggested for the Longhorns. In particular, they essentially used Michigan’s strategy of playing heavily in two-deep coverages with a routine safety bracket over the top against the dreaded Buckeye wideout Jeremiah Smith. On the day, Ohio State targeted their star freshman just three times and were rewarded with a single catch for three yards. That’s an average of one yard per pass attempt when directed at Smith. Pretty good result, many didn’t think this was possible. Emeka Egbuka was harder to shut down in the slot but caught five balls on seven targets for just 51 yards at 7.3 ypt. To Ryan Day’s credit, Ohio State got the other players involved since Texas was playing safeties over the top of the star weapons and Carnell Tate was targeted nine times and caught seven balls for 87 yards for 9.7 ypt. Good, not great.

Will Howard finished 24-33 for 289 yards at 8.8 ypa with one touchdown and one interception. Texas would have had him totally beleaguered and shut down if not for a 75-yard touchdown on a screen pass before the half when the Buckeyes caught Texas backed off. Take that off the board and Howard is 23-32 for 214 yards at 6.7 ypa with no touchdowns. The Buckeye quarterback did hurt Texas some in the run game, most notably with a quarterback power run on 4th-and-2 the Longhorns didn’t adjust against well which set up the go-ahead touchdown. He’s a good game manager who brings value-add in short-yardage with his quickness, large frame, and ability to run. To make the heavy focus on stopping the Buckeye passing game work, Texas had to defend the run short a man some, although Pete Kwiatkowski mixed in single-high defenses and blitzes to help stop the run and keep the Buckeyes off kilter. Quinshon Judkins and Treveyon Henderson combined for 15 carries and picked up 78 yards at 5.2 ypc with two rushing touchdowns. Solid but not back-breaking, the killer was Ohio State could run the ball in the red zone whereas Texas could not. This was another great performance by one of the best Longhorn defenses I’ve ever seen.

Quick thought no. 2: Gutsy game from the Texas running backs

Texas was in a bad spot at one point in this game with Isaiah Bond still looking like a shell of himself and Matthew Golden dinged up early with an injury. Golden has really carried Texas to this point in the season and was the best skill talent on the roster by the end of the year. He managed to grit out a 4th quarter appearance and turned three targets into two catches for 51 yards. Texas needed a lot more from him in this game to win and his injury was tough to overcome. Quintrevion Wisner doesn’t have stats that will look particularly impressive from this game but he ran hard throughout the game and was able to convert a few third downs, break a few tackles, and snatch compromise from the jaws of defeat a few times on plays that looked dead on arrival.

For the day he had 17 carries for 46 yards at 2.7 ypc and caught six balls on eight targets for 42 yards. The fact he ended up serving as the main volume skill talent for the Longhorns wasn’t his fault and he gave it all he had. Wisner will always go down as a great Longhorn in my book. Blue ran hard as well and picked 16 yards on four carries at 4.0 ypc while adding five catches on six targets for 59 yards and two touchdowns. Those two fought hard to help keep the Texas offense in the game and made a good attempt to take advantage of opportunities created by the Longhorn defense.

Quick thought no. 3: Texas lost on two plays

Football can be an unfair game for the way the scoring system rewards plays which move the funny shaped ball across the plane of the goal line. The margin of defeat in this game came on two disastrous plays which resulted in long scores for Ohio State and will likely go down in Longhorn infamy. Let’s go ahead and talk about them. First, the long score before the half:

The Longhorns brought a late nickel blitz, which only added up to four pass-rushers with two deep safeties. Jaylon Guilbeau appears to have been fooled into thinking he was about to hit a flushed Howard rather than recognizing the slip screen and ran unproductively up the field. The rest of the Texas defense had bailed deep and failed to converge on the ball from space to get Henderson on the ground. Truly a disastrous result when it should have been 7-7 going into the half. Then there was this…

Pretty much everything that could go wrong here did go wrong. Sark released the running back to the boundary side and had a snag concept going there in confined space. The Buckeyes dropped an Edge and had four over three to that side of the field. There wasn’t anything open to the field either where Ohio State had four over three, but worse than that the field also had Sawyer racing past Cameron Williams before finding an unsuspecting Ewers. The ball just went right to the Buckeye end and that was that. Ewers’ pocket presence in this game varied pretty heavily throughout the game. He wandered into pressure early, found check downs which built scoring drives later, and ultimately couldn’t escape a bad situation and gave up the ball with the game on the line. A sack or throwaway would have left two minutes for Texas to make a stop on the Buckeye goal line and try to get the ball back but instead the game was over at that moment.

Quick thought no. 4: Fitting to lose in the red zone on offense

Red zone offense has been an Achilles heel issue for Texas for years. It’s entirely unsurprising they’d lose a shot at a title due to an inability to get the ball across the plane in those condensed spaces. 1st-and-goal was from the one-yard line after a defensive pass interference call and Sark sent into a jumbo package in order to run a lead dive to powerful freshman back Jerrick Gibson. The Buckeyes, who have perhaps the best goal line defense in the nation, stopped this at the line of scrimmage. 2nd-and-goal is going to generate controversy and frustration for years. Sark switched back into normal 12 personnel (two tight ends) and had Ewers pitch an outside toss to Wisner behind a Juan Davis pin down block and Kelvin Banks outside pull. In theory, running behind Banks in space is a winning call, but in the tight spaces of the red zone the safeties were all over it and Wisner was tackled for a seven-yard loss.

Fans may debate for decades to come whether Sark should have instead called a rollout for Ewers or inserted Arch Manning to gain a +1 advantage in order to try and power the ball across the goal line. He didn’t, the real call lost yardage, and now Texas had to throw. 3rd-and-goal Ewers tried to find Ryan Wingo on a corner route but Sawyer whipped Cole Hutson inside and got in his face to tip the pass, also negating a potential defensive pass interference call Wingo might have drawn fighting to try and reach the ball. 4th-and-goal you already know. Sawyer finished the job. Texas has long lacked the ability to hammer the ball in during these situations, to get guys open, or to have a receiver who’s always open and has strong hands (although Golden has been great here when given more chances). Future Texas teams will need better options here for finishing drives and there are a number of upgrades which could be beneficial.

Quick thought no. 5: Columbus awaits…

Guess who Texas plays in its next football game? The Longhorns will travel to Columbus, OH to open the 2025 season against the Buckeyes. Both teams will look very different. The Buckeyes have been scrambling to rebuild their O-line in the transfer portal with multiple offensive tackle additions secured over the last few weeks. The Longhorns are currently trying to rebuild the D-line, which loses the top four defensive tackles, and have already added a couple of players in the portal to do so. Some of the younger stars in this game are going to have chances to make their mark in what may be a regular matchup over the coming years. Ohio State is in terrific shape for the playoff era and will have Smith back next season as well as Caleb Downs. Texas will enter the Manning era with Wingo likely gaining prominence in the offense next season while the defense retools around Anthony Hill and Colin Simmons. Those two are going to be monstrous next season and gave Ohio State all it could handle in this game.

The Longhorns missed a second straight chance at the title and the Ewers era is now likely over, but none of the Sark/Ewers teams had that overpowering offensive aura about them and were all pretty clearly flawed well in advance of the losses which eliminated them. The Sark/Manning era now begins and we’ll see whether the brilliant recruiting of the last few seasons can help them build a more complete team.

Mike Craven: Red Zone Woes Costs Texas in Cotton Bowl loss to Ohio State

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ARLINGTON – Texas’s season ended in the red zone of the College Football semifinal for the second consecutive year. Last year, it was an incomplete pass by Quinn Ewers in a Sugar Bowl loss to Washington. On Friday night at AT&T Stadium, Ewers was strip sacked by his former roommate at Ohio State, Jack Sawyer, who then rumbled 83 yards the other direction to give the Buckeyes a 28-14 lead and a ticket to the national championship game against Notre Dame. “It sucks being on this side of things back-to-back years,” Ewers said after the game. “It’s hard, all the work we put in, being in the Final Four back-to-back years and coming up short, it’s tough.” Texas trailed 21-14 with four minutes left in the game when a pass interference call gifted the Longhorns first-and-goal on the Ohio State 1 yard line. The first down run up the middle by Jerrick Gibson was stuffed. The second down toss play by Tre Wisner resulted in an 8-yard loss. Third down was an incomplete pass intended for Ryan Wingo. And fourth down ended in the turnover that ended the Texas season. “First and goal on the one and we don’t score, you quite frankly don’t deserve to win that way,” Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said after the game. 

Red zone failures are nothing new for Texas. The Horns ranked 120th in the FBS last year with a 50 percent touchdown rate inside the red zone. They improved to 52nd in the country in 2024 with a touchdown conversion rate of 64.18 percent. But that number dipped back to 50 percent against Ohio State with one touchdown out of two trips. Ohio State was 2-for-2 in the red zone for 14 points. Texas hoped sophomore running back C.J. Baxter would fix the red zone offense. The former five-star recruit is a 6-foot-1, 220-pound bruiser who can gain yards when none are available. Tre Wisner and Jaydon Blue are both listed at a generous 200 pounds. Gibson is 205 as a true freshman. The Horns needed Baxter’s power, but he was lost for the season in August after tearing his ACL and LCL in practice. 

While Ewers receives a lion’s share of the blame when Texas’s offense sputters, the inconsistent run game in the biggest games of the season prevented the Longhorns for advancing past the semifinals. In 13 wins, Texas ran the ball for 2,422 yards and scored 26 rushing touchdowns while averaging 4.82 yards per game. In the three losses, the Horns didn’t run for a single rushing touchdown while averaging 1.4 yards a carry on 84 attempts. Texas ran the ball 27 times for 29 yards in the first loss to Georgia while allowing seven sacks. In the rematch, the Longhorns only managed 31 yards on 28 attempts while allowing six sacks. Against Ohio State, they ran the ball 29 times for 58 yards with four sacks allowed. Wisner averaged 2.7 yards a carry with a long of 13. Blue had four carries for 16 yards. Even with those struggles, Texas was one yard away from tying the game late in the fourth quarter. Ewers threw for two passes – both to Blue. In fact, Texas’s two leading receivers were Blue and Wisner out of the backfield. The backfield didn’t lack talent or production. It simply lacked its hammer. With no Baxter and Gibson still a freshman, Texas elected to get cute on second down with the toss. If it works, Sarkisian is a genius. It didn’t, so that’ll be a call that is dissected throughout the whole offseason. “That’s one of those plays if you block it right, you get in the end zone,” Sarkisian explained. “We didn’t and we lost quite a bit of yardage. At the point, you’re kind of stuck behind the 8 ball because we knew were in four-down territory.” 

One person on the bench who was in uniform that could’ve helped the Longhorns ram the ball into the end zone was Arch Manning. He ran the ball once for eight yards on fourth down in a short-yardage situation. Next year, the Horns should be better in those situations with a presumed backfield of Manning and Baxter in those situations. Losing is always disappointing. Maybe especially so one game away from the national championship game. But one thing is for sure – Texas is back. The Longhorns were 13-12 in Sarkisian’s first two seasons on the Forty Acres. They were 25-4 over the last two. For leaders like Ewers and Jahdae Barron who likely played their final games in burnt orange, the defeat won’t sour the climb back to relevance. The future is bright for the first time in a long time. “(The future at Texas) is going to be amazing for these guys and the reason they’re going to be amazing is because Coach Sark and what he’s about,” Barron said. “It’s nothing about football. It’s culture and who you are as a person.” 

 

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Eric Nahlin: It's only a matter of time before Steve Sarkisian wins it all at Texas

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When you believe Texas has the right head coach and staff, right university leadership, and overall right direction, big losses are much easier to stomach. The key to winning a National Championship is having year-in, year-out exposure to the playoffs. It’s not often in any sport that a fly-by-night team shows up to win it all out of nowhere before receding to their historical standard. TCU making the finals before getting obliterated by Georgia is the closest I can recall this century.

Two years in a row Texas has had exposure to winning a National Championship. Each year it fell short of the championship game by literal inches. During the end of the offseason before 2023 kicked off it was written that if Texas was back, it wouldn’t happen on the field. It actually happened during the offseason when the players were working out and being developed. The season would simply prove they were back. That it did.

If you thought 2023 was a one-off, as many rival fans did, you weren’t paying attention. Winning big in college football is about being on a good, experienced, deep, and talented roster cycle. Texas won 13 games this season last offseason when it retained Quinn Ewers, Alfred Collins, and Jahdae Barron while also adding Matthew Golden, Trey Moore, Jermayne Lole, Silas Bolden, and a handful of others.

While Texas still has roster needs to address this offseason, notably at wide receiver, defensive tackle, and offensive line, it will be on a strong roster cycle once again. Arch Manning still lacks experience but not time under tension within the program. And he did gain experience this season while filling in for Quinn Ewers. Colin Simmons and Anthony Hill are Vitruvian Men for their position. Simmons will ultimately become a top 10 draft pick. Hill will be a first-rounder even if the NFL devalues linebackers in the draft. Ryan Wingo has top 10 draft ability. Those are just the elite, elite. Texas will likely have the best Edge room in the country for 2025.

Assuming Michael Taaffe returns, which is not certain, Texas could yet again have the best secondary in the country. Jelani McDonald is an elite talent. Forget Malik Muhammad‘s struggles against Clemson and Arizona State. He’s played a lot of football; we know who he is. Derek Williams will return from injury. Kobe Black flashed this season. Jaylon Guilbeau will be even more experienced at a difficult position to play. Having strong pass rush coupled with strong coverage provides a massive lift and high floor for a defense. Texas will have both.

Questions abound on offense but the key to me is as much schematic as it is personnel-driven. Can Sark get back to his preference of inside zone married to play-action passing? Well…Arch throws bombs so there’s one half of the equation. The other half will depend on finding the right mix and match on offensive line and a running back attuned to running between the tackles. When has Sark ever failed to address personnel issues? Sark is going to win it all at Texas and it just might be next year. He just has to give himself another bite of the apple.

Charlie Williams: What we learned from Texas’ loss to Ohio State in the College Football Playoff

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Here are my thoughts on the Texas vs. Ohio State College Football Playoff semifinal. The toss sweep to the left out of pistol to the boundary—it’s the play everybody will be talking about this offseason, along with the entire play sequence inside the 5-yard line. But what did we learn about Texas this season and after the loss to Ohio State in the semifinal?

We learned that Ohio State is a good team. We learned that they have great coaches who, in crunch time, put their players in the best position to execute. We also learned that Texas’ regular struggles came back to bite the Horns in the butt. Unfortunately, we learned that flaws are magnified when you face a good team, as they are able to take advantage of them (i.e., Georgia). The question may circle back around to whether Texas really played anybody because, when they played good teams equally matched, they lost all three contests. But let’s dive into this.

Coaching Staff:

I’ll start with the positive and say I thought Coach PK and the staff did a great job on defense, minimizing an explosive Ohio State offense that had been running up and down the field the past few weeks. I thought, offensively, UT got outcoached for most of the night, especially in situational opportunities such as third down, fourth down, and the red zone. When we talk about the “deer in headlights” look in previous games, I felt that, in critical moments, the Texas staff had that look. Credit to Ohio State for contributing to that.

Quinn Ewers:

Unfortunately, his last few plays as a Longhorn will be a strip sack that went for a game-sealing touchdown and an interception. Overall, Quinn really managed the game well. I want to say this loss is not on him at all. Losing a receiver like Matthew Golden, who you relied on late in the season and in the playoffs, hurt. Not having him there due to injury allowed Ohio State to key in on Gunner Helm. This kind of goes back to coaching—not having a full rotation of your receivers so that your quarterback gets great game reps with them. I feel like Silas Bolden could have been a key factor, but Quinn had to rely on Bolden, who doesn’t play much, Wingo, a freshman, Deandre Moore, who is good but got hot and cold at times while battling injuries himself, Helm, and the running backs.

Quinn used the running backs a ton in the second half, which was really key because the checkdown is your friend. Finding Wisner when he was about to get sacked was great awareness. The run he made where he looked to the sideline to find the first-down marker and decided not to slide and give up his body was a leadership-type play. The two wheel routes for touchdowns to Blue were great play calls and great execution.

Running Backs:

They had a quiet night on the ground. Tre Wisner broke a few tackles here and there. Jaydon Blue caught the ball well out of the backfield, especially on the touchdowns, but when it came to the running game, it was like running into a brick wall all night. Texas tried outside zone, saw a toss sweep, which everyone knew was a big no-no from the beginning (coaching staff). I thought when the Longhorns ran split zone and power downhill, they were able to get yards, but like in previous games, Steve Sarkisian went away from it after gaining positive yards.

Receivers and Tight Ends:

Matthew Golden is the true number one receiver. When he went out, that took away Texas’ primary target and, to me, was a key factor in how you wanted to attack Ohio State’s secondary, which was outside. We saw him make a late catch in the game on third down, which was really good, but missing him most of the game really hurt. Even though you would like to see the other guys step up, asking them to do so is a lot in such a critical moment. I thought DeAndre Moore had a few catches but really couldn’t maneuver and get open most of the night. Wingo had an explosive run after the catch, but for the most part, he’s a young freshman still trying to figure things out. Silas Bolden was thrust into action due to injury but, outside of one great effort after the catch, was a non-factor. Gunnar Helm—UT decided to go to him late in the game once again. He made a play, even though I think it was a weak penalty call against him for taunting. Overall, it was just an okay, quiet night for the pass catchers.

Offensive Line:

Outside of the red zone, short yardage, and situational downs, they played okay as far as pass protection. To me, they faced the number one defense—a really good defensive line—and held their own. Now, they couldn’t get a push in the running game, but that’s been the case all season vs. equally matched teams in the trenches. The false start penalties? You just come to expect them. You might as well just account for them every game, put it in your play script or your practice script because it’s just going to happen. I felt like they were a little outmatched athletically up front, and it showed in certain situations, but for the most part, they did an okay job outside of not getting a push in the run game.

Defensive Line (or should I say, Colin Simmons):

Colin Simmons was the best defensive lineman in the game for either side outside of Jack Sawyer, who got the strip sack at the end. Simmons, freshman or not, is an absolute beast off the edge—he cannot be blocked. I thought he disrupted the game plan for Ohio State once he was inserted. Being a freshman didn’t matter to him; he wanted the action. He did not want to come off the field at all and lived up to the moment and his ranking, showing why he is and was a five-star. He played well versus the run, the pass, and when he couldn’t get pressure, he got up and batted the ball down. The other guys on the defensive line were solid, but Simmons was the leader last night.

Linebackers:

Did they play last night? I felt like they had dirty eyes all night. They were confused, especially in zone coverage, which we knew was a weakness. But on a few of the explosive runs and gains, it was strictly on them—going the wrong way, over-pursuing, not reading their keys well. Yeah, they made tackles, but for the most part, the linebackers were a non-factor. Anthony Hill got a sack, but from this unit, I wanted and needed to see more because we knew where Ohio State would attack. David Gbenda (why did he get benched again?) made an absolutely phenomenal play on the interception, reading the quarterback’s eyes as Ohio State started pressing and wanted to get the ball to Jeremiah Smith. But outside of that, I didn’t see much.

Secondary:

Everyone was talking about the highly anticipated matchup versus Jeremiah Smith and the Ohio State receivers—who they held to one catch for three yards, by the way. I thought they executed their game plan masterfully. They were in tight coverage for most of the night versus Ohio State receivers. They made Carnell Tate, the third option, beat them (still a 5-star) as they took away Emeka Egbuka and Jeremiah Smith. Shout out to Coach PK for a great game plan—being able to keep the two-high safety look most of the night and still stop the run.

The only negative thing I have to say about the secondary is the missed tackles. I thought they gave up yards after the catch, which they normally don’t do. But for the most part, they played their butts off with sticky coverage, swarming to the football, and giving it their all all night.

Special Teams:

Special teams was a quiet night outside of the heart flutter Silas Bolden gave us on the punt return where we thought he might return it, then he fumbled. It was a very quiet night, which is okay. That means they didn’t cost us the game or put Texas in bad situations. And even in the second half, UT kind of flipped field position and won that battle.

Overall:

We learned Texas is a defensive team, and the defense was the one that was going to carry the Horns all the way to the national championship. Unfortunately, the team Texas faced is also a defensive team, who just happens to have a little bit better of an offense. This team fought hard. This team left it all on the field. This team will be remembered for how they played as a complete unit. Let’s attack the offseason.

Evan Vieth: PFF's highest graded Longhorns at each position from the Ohio State game

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For the second straight year, the Texas Longhorns had their season end in the College Football Playoff semifinals, this season falling at the hands of the powerhouse Ohio State Buckeyes 28-14. Against the Washington Huskies last season, players like Quinn Ewers, Byron Murphy and Alfred Collins were some of Pro Football Focus’ highest rated players from the Texas sideline, with Ewers specifically scoring his third-best start of the season in 2023.

In the 2024 Cotton Bowl, Texas’ overall team grade was over 12 points lower than the Sugar Bowl performance a season prior, with the team’s pass blocking performance reaching its lowest rating over the last two seasons. Still, a few players on both sides of the ball against the Buckeyes had notable performances that allowed the Longhorns to stay in the game up until Jack Sawyer‘s fumble-six to ice it in Arlington.

QB: Quinn Ewers, 60.7 grade

Ewers had almost as average of a game as possible in PFF’s eyes, as the site uses 60.0 as a benchmark average number for performances at every position. Arch Manning technically did reach a higher grade than Ewers, but you really can’t qualify a player who took one snap. Ewers posted 283 yards on 39 attempts with two touchdowns over one interception.

RB: Quintrevion Wisner, 67.8 grade

Wisner, despite both scores coming via the hands of Jaydon Blue, was the Longhorn’s third-highest-graded offensive player and the best running back overall. His 46 yards rushing were the most in the entire contest, but at 2.7 yards per carry his efficiency held much to be desired. Adding 42 yards on six catches did help his case, however, but most of his performance will be overshadowed by the head-scratching RB Sweep play call on 2nd and 1 at the goal line that ultimately led to Sawyer’s game-winning play.

WR: Matthew Golden, 75.8 grade.

Golden played just 26 snaps but made the most of it despite playing with an ankle injury throughout most of the game. Each of Golden’s two catches was impressive, a one-hander that extended the first drive of the game and a clutch deep ball to set up a goal-to-go situation for the Longhorns late in the fourth. Silas Bolden was the only other receiver to receive a grade north of 60.

TE: Juan Davis, 47.2 grade.

If there was one position that struggled throughout the Cotton Bowl, it was definitely the Longhorn tight ends. Davis and Gunnar Helm combined for 46 receiving yards, the majority of which came in the fourth quarter, but both of the big targets were liabilities in the blocking game. The OSU EDGEs, linebackers and safeties were manhandling both Davis and Helm, which is why they each received grades in the mid-forties.

Offensive Line: Kelvin Banks, 75.8 grade.

Banks was the Longhorn’s best offensive player in the eyes of PFF on Friday, with the future first-rounder allowing just one pressure on 20 true pass block snaps against a formidable duo of Sawyer and JT Tuimoloau. Jake Majors was the best interior lineman but was the only other blocker to surpass the 60.0 grade mark. Cam Williams and the guard duo did not have the game that was expected of one of the nation’s best offensive lines.

Defensive Line: Vernon Broughton, 86.8 grade.

Broughton being the team’s highest-graded player should come as no surprise to those who watched the game. The defensive tackle was a menace in the passing game, forcing a fumble and recording a sack on three pressures. His strip sack on Will Howard could have been a true momentum play if Howard hadn’t fallen directly on the ball. Either way, Broughton has earned himself a ton of credit in the NFL draft community after this one.

Edge Rusher: Colin Simmons, 75.6 grade.

What a year for the freshman pass rusher. At this time last year Colin Simmons was wrapping up high school to prepare to enroll at Texas, and now he is arguably the team’s most impactful defensive player. Simmons didn’t record a sack, but he lit up the stat sheet in other facets. He had three pressures, two batted passes, a QB hit and three stops in the run game. There was a ton of outrage from non-Texas fans about the lack of holding calls called on the youngster, especially on a critical third down that led to a fourth quarter score for the Buckeyes.

Linebacker: David Gbenda, 71.9 grade.

David Gbenda truly made the most of his final game in Texas colors. In just 15 snaps Gbenda made a giant impact on the game, forcing the only turnover of the game for Texas with an interception off Howard on the first drive of the second half to inject energy into the Texas side of the stadium. He was also a part of one of the biggest stops of the game on the very next drive, hitting Quinshon Judkins in the backfield for the 3rd and 1 stop.

Cornerback: Gavin Holmes, 66.1 grade.

It’s surprising that PFF was so low on the Texas cornerbacks in this game, especially Jahdae Barron and Malik Muhammad, after allowing just 141 yards to wide receivers throughout the game, including holding freshman phenom Jeremiah Smith to one catch. In fact, PFF only tasked the trio with 48 of Howard’s 289 passing yards, an impressive feat on the stat sheet. Each of them seemingly passed the eye test, especially Muhammad, but Holmes ended up being the one with a grade north of 63. Holmes did a great job as a passing down specialist in his 11 snaps, even adding two tackles, but Barron would’ve been the obvious pick just off of instant eye test.

Safety: Jelani McDonald, 78.4 grade.

Another defensive back with under 15 snaps, McDonald seemed to be flying around the field when he had the ability to make an impact. McDonald actually lined up more in the slot than usual, subbing in for Jaylon Guilbeau on more run-specific sets. McDonald added a quarterback pressure and zero yards given up to his final season numbers, also holding PFF’s highest coverage grade among defensive backs.

Sam Khan Jr.: Texas’ doomed drive, Quinn Ewers’ fumble leave Horns one step from playing for title once again

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ARLINGTON, Texas — A year ago, Texas was one play away from playing for a national championship. But Quinn Ewers’ last-second pass to Adonai Mitchell in the end zone was batted away by Washington, ending the Longhorns’ season in the College Football Playoff semifinals. As the pain set in and hugs were exchanged in the losing locker room at the Sugar Bowl, there was quiet confidence and determination about getting back to that position and going a step further.

“We had a look with one another,” safety Michael Taaffe said Friday night, recalling that scene. “I saw the vision for this team.” On Friday, the Longhorns were again within striking distance of playing for a national title, back in the Playoff semifinals, this time against Ohio State at the Cotton Bowl. Trailing by a touchdown with four minutes to go, all that stood between Texas and a chance to keep its season alive was 3 feet of AT&T Stadium turf. Just 1 yard needed for the Longhorns to potentially tie the score.

That’s when Texas’ title dreams fell completely apart, during a four-play sequence that will stick in the Longhorns’ memories, but a series that they’d rather soon forget. They failed to gain a yard and lost 7 yards on the first three downs. On fourth down, Ewers was sacked, fumbled and Ohio State’s Jack Sawyer recovered, taking the ball 83 yards the other way to seal a 28-14 win that left the Longhorns in a daze. “First-and-goal on the 1 and we don’t score, quite frankly, you probably don’t deserve to win that way,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said.

After consecutive pass interference penalties on Ohio State set up Texas with first-and-goal from the 1, the Longhorns mostly went backward. On first down, they brought in a heavy personnel package, which included offensive lineman Jaydon Chatman lining up at fullback in front of true freshman Jerrick Gibson in the I-formation and 315-pound defensive lineman Jermayne Lole as extra beef as a tight end.

But in much the same way Texas stonewalled opponents on short-yardage situations in the past seven weeks, Ohio State’s front penetrated the middle and dropped Gibson for no gain. “Obviously, we didn’t get much movement at all,” Sarkisian said. The second-and-goal call, a toss left to Quintrevion Wisner, blew up in the Longhorns’ faces.

Left tackle Kelvin Banks pulled and shoved Ohio State safety Lathan Ransom toward the left sideline. Wisner was supposed to shoot the gap, but he couldn’t because Buckeyes’ star Caleb Downs instinctively screamed through the open space between Banks and left guard Hayden Conner, who was occupying defensive tackle Ty Hamilton.

Wisner caught the pitch from Ewers at the 8 and by the time he reached the left hash mark, Downs was already at the 5, untouched, closing in quickly. Wisner stiff-armed Downs to the turf, but his presence forced Wisner toward the sideline, giving Ransom enough time to recover from Banks’ block. Ransom dived at Wisner’s right ankle and cornerback Davison Igbinosun finished off the tackle for a loss of 7 yards. Even if he hadn’t, four other red jerseys were in the vicinity, ready to finish the play.

“I thought there was going to be a big hole behind me because that’s how the play is designed,” Banks said. “I’m supposed to kick (the defender) out and Tre is supposed to hit the hole behind me. … But I turn to my left and Downs is making the play.” Sarkisian said the plan when Texas got close to the goal line was to attack the edge. “If you block it all right, you get in the end zone,” he said. “We didn’t, and we lost quite a bit of yardage.” Added Banks: “Downs just made a great play.”

A third-and-goal pass to freshman Ryan Wingo in the left corner of the end zone fell incomplete, as Wingo tried to escape a handsy Igbinosun. But the throw was rushed because Sawyer was in Ewers’ face as he released the ball.

Fourth down was a catastrophe. As Ewers dropped back to pass, Sawyer showed impressive bend and blew by right tackle Cam Williams — who struggled to contain edge pressure for much of the night in his first game back from a sprained knee — and within three seconds, he was knocking Ewers to the turf.

“I felt him,” Ewers said of Sawyer. “I started drifting away. I thought I was going to be able to get the ball off before he got there.” The ball came loose as Ewers tried to throw it. Sawyer, who was once Ewers’ roommate at Ohio State, picked it up at the 17 and sprinted to victory. “I saw Jack running with the ball down the sideline. It sucks, man,” Ewers said. “But he’s a great player, great individual, great person… It just sucks. It sucks. Jack’s a good player, and he made a good play.”

The goal-line sequence was the rekindling of an old problem that persisted at Texas in 2023 but that the Longhorns seemingly corrected in 2024: finishing red zone drives with touchdowns. Last season, Texas ranked 120th in the FBS, scoring touchdowns on just 50.8 percent of red zone trips. It became a point of emphasis this offseason and in the first six games, looked rectified: Texas ranked 10th nationally at midseason, scoring touchdowns on 78.8 percent of red zone drives.

But since mid-October, the Longhorns reverted to old habits, scoring on just half of their red zone trips in the last 10 games, ranking 107th nationally. At the most critical moment of the Cotton Bowl, that flaw proved fatal. “That’s been the key point of the whole year, finishing in the red zone, finish, finish, finish,” Banks said, pounding his open left hand with his closed right fist for emphasis. “It definitely sucks because in that big moment, when we really needed it, we couldn’t get it done.”

It wasn’t Texas’ only misstep in a game the Longhorns were good enough to win. They didn’t look overmatched by the uber-talented Ohio State team. After giving up an opening-drive touchdown, the Longhorns defense settled and kept the Buckeyes quiet for much of the first half. Ohio State did itself few favors with penalties and unforced errors.

But Texas’ protection issues persisted, particularly on the right side, where Williams struggled. Sawyer and JT Tuimoloau gave the Longhorns everything they could handle and then some.

Even with those shortcomings, and a late first-half touchdown Texas relinquished on a screen pass to TreVeyon Henderson, the Longhorns continued fighting. An early third-quarter interception by David Gbenda kept them in it, and Texas tied the score at 14 after an impressive third-quarter drive, when Ewers led Texas to a 4-for-4 showing on third downs before hitting Jaydon Blue for his second touchdown.

But Ohio State finished when Texas could not. The Buckeyes’ seven-minute, 45-second drive that included a fourth-down conversion by Will Howard was a championship drive when the Buckeyes needed it. Texas, with all its talent, and an experienced, SEC-ready offensive line, couldn’t. And because of that, the Longhorns won’t be playing on Jan. 20.

“It sucks being on this side of things,” Ewers said. “Back-to-back years, pretty much a game decided on one play. It’s hard. All the work that we put in, being in the final four back-to-back years and coming up short two years, it’s tough.” Said Banks: “That was really our determination the whole offseason: getting to that stage and finishing. When it doesn’t happen again for the second time, you think, what could we have done better?”

The Longhorns will spend the coming weeks and months playing the what-if game. But the team will be drastically different in 2025. Ewers is likely headed to the NFL Draft, which he told ESPN this week. Banks is likely headed there too, though he didn’t say it Friday night (he said he’d talk to his family and his agent before deciding on his future). Most of the offensive line will be gone. Thorpe Award winner Jahdae Barron will graduate and so will tight end Gunnar Helm and several other key players.

The Arch Manning era will begin in Texas’ second SEC year. But the climb back to this point, and getting past it, isn’t easy, even with as much talent as the Longhorns have. Taaffe believes they’ll get back because of the standard that has been set. Texas is 25-5 in the past two years with consecutive Playoff and conference title game appearances.

They were up to the challenge in the first year of SEC membership. And it’s noteworthy that the Longhorns were the only one of last year’s final four teams in the bracket to even make the 12-team Playoff. But that wasn’t the goal. The plan was to be playing in Atlanta for a national championship. Instead, they’ll have to dwell for an entire offseason, once again, how close they were to getting there. “I hate this feeling more than I like winning,” Taaffe said. “I’ll have no regret because I left it all out there and my teammates should have no regret because I know they left it all out there.”

 

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(Scipio Tex) 2025 Ohio State Post Mortem: Offense

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The Australian band Crowded House had a song back in 1991 called Four Seasons In One Day, which was a tribute to the chaos of Melburnian weather but also a general musing on how sometimes a brief sliver of time can hold entire seasons in our lives. If you watched this Texas offense and have been reading my postmortems, we saw a whole season in one game. Both the triumphs and the frustrations. Nothing that happened should have surprised you, but we do find surprising new ways to surprise.

The Texas passing game plan was good. Sark certainly saw the game as I did. He targeted Ohio State’s blitzing linebackers and packed coverage between the hashes with the running backs and tight ends while attacking OSU’s somewhat vulnerable cornerbacks with Matthew Golden deeper down the field on progression routes beyond the reach of safety help.

It was effectively a two-part strategy targeting the short passing game everywhere and the intermediate and deep game outside of the hashes. We conceded the intermediate and deep middle because throwing it where lots of dudes are standing isn’t good ball. It was allowed by some creative sets that forced Ohio State’s safeties and linebackers into coverage conflicts.

The first part of the mission was successful. Before the game, I called for 20 targets to Texas running backs and tight ends. Texas had 17. Had Texas managed another real possession in regulation or gone to overtime, we probably get to my number. And I have a sneaking suspicion that we’d be playing the Irish for it all on January 20th.

Ewers completed 14 of those 17 RB/TE targets for 148 yards and two critical touchdowns to Blue on the same wheel routes from just outside of the red zone. Sark throwing to the end zone from that part of the field was also clearly part of the game plan, as predicted.

At 8.7 yards per attempt, with five first downs and two touchdowns, this part of the passing game emphatically worked and it was more effective in the second half than the first, particularly when Golden returned and Ewers started managing the pocket better and making clutch little check downs under pressure for positive yards.

The second part of the passing game plan, the downfield outside-of-the-hash Golden part, was also working. Matthew had 2 catches for 51 yards at an average depth of target of 19.3 in just over a quarter and a half of play. Ohio State evidenced zero ability to man him up when they wanted to overplay their hand against the run and he also drew a pair of PIs.

And this is what it looked like early outside of the hash..

However, nearly 2.5 quarters of Golden’s injury absence hamstrung the effectiveness of Phase II of the passing game plan and when he came back late, despite a key catch downfield, he was clearly not at 100%. That phase was the natural complement to exploiting the attention that Ohio State’s do-everything safeties had to pay to the Texas running game and RB/TE personnel in the passing game. Bad luck and it hamstrung Sark’s calls.

This was the worst coverage game that Buckeye safety Lathan Ransom had all year and one of the best tacklers in college football missed three, also a season high. Those safeties felt the pressure to be everywhere at all times and it was getting worse for them as the game progressed. Everything else that we did was just an attempt to paper over Golden’s absence and deal with Ohio State’s pressure or Ewers’ hit-or-miss play.

The other phase was the running game. Our plan was less good here. The Texas running game had brief moments of life, but it’s effectively useless against higher order defenses with sufficient personnel and coaching who aren’t overawed by our passing threats. Texas run game personnel at TE, RB and the interior OL, overarching philosophy, and unit level coaching all enter into it. I’ve dissected the issues here and elsewhere ad nauseam and I’m sure it will be robust topic for the offseason.

Failing to score with a 1st down on the Buckeye 1 yard line will be picked apart for years, but it was a somewhat fitting end to the season, reminding us that we couldn’t get quite get it over the line while also reminding us why Sark was trying to throw it in when he had some space. Remember, Ohio State committed two PIs on that drive – Sark didn’t want to try to power it in either.

The toss play wasn’t going to work unless a couple of Buckeye defenders whiff. Hell, maybe Sark viewed it as a cheap score if they’re all slanting down or they just inflict a negative. If a negative, now he has space to throw as his running game confidence in short yardage was at zero.

QB

Great call, good route, very good throw. It’s easy to clank his free throw and you must put it in a catchable spot for a non-wide receiver.

Quinn’s whole game was four seasons in one day. Ewers did some very good things, evidenced some bad old habits and ultimately couldn’t get it done for myriad reasons both within and outside of his span of control.

Early pocket presence was awful. Quarterbacks can’t respond to manageable pressure and no immediate open receivers by pulling the ball down to their hip, dropping their eyes and blundering forward into rushers. He did that twice and he’s done it dozen other times this year. I’ve beaten this dead mule thoroughly, but here it goes again.

That QB is no longer participating in the passing game when he does that. He’s now just a guy who runs a 4.8 40 standing upright from a dead stop with no running instincts waiting to be hammered. Be in a throwing position at all times. Stand in the pocket. Slide to windows from pressure, understanding where the OL in front of you is guiding his man. On another occasion he stood like a statue and got sacked when a small step forward would have created a fly-by.

Texas was sacked 5 times. Ewers was more or less singularly responsible for three of them. No, that last sack strip was obviously not on him. Cam whiffed but Ewers clearly felt Sawyer. However, Ewers alone can turn a horrific play that’s not his fault into something salvageable. That means you trust the potential for the Texas defense to get the football again with the Buckeyes backed up on their 7 yard line, time on the clock, timeouts in your pocket.

Throw the ball away. Take the only remaining available path to victory. Competitors want to make a play, but there was no play to be made except the macro percentage one. In the second half, he managed the pocket quite well and improvised several chain movers on check downs or stood strong and delivered downfield. He was gutsy, calm and effective. I don’t understand the dichotomy in his play here.

He made several money throws (he was 3 of 5 for 69 yards on deep shots and would have had several more with a healthy Golden or non-grabby Ohio State corners) and kept some drives alive with improvisation, but he also missed two open throws on third down. Three drops (one was a killer by Bond) and three batted balls (one on him trying to throw it through a defender, another one a great effort by Ohio State, one on the OL leaking) didn’t help his cause.

Overall, I thought he battled his ass off and his 23 of 39 for 284 yards with two touchdown and an interception stat line was not just solid but he also hurt OSU in ways that no other passing game has all year since Knowles evolved fully into his new scheme. He has nothing to hang his head about from a competitive standpoint and he was a key catalyst in helping to restore the program.

RB

Both backs were excellent in the receiving game and played very hard. Wisner struggled as a pass protector, but asking him to handle OSU’s blitzing linebackers is a tall task. Wisner had 17 carries at less than 3 yards per tote and he struggled to add yardage to what the play was blocked for – a relatively poor 1.94 yards after contact. Blue ran with more juice but saw only 4 carries.

None of our running backs were helped much by the blocking or scheme. That written, Wisner would be the 3rd string RB on every other team in the Final 4. Which he was before our rash of injuries. We should love and appreciate him, but also understand that he’s miscast as a lead back in an elite offense. Particularly an offense that didn’t do a lot schematically down the stretch to help its charges against higher order defenses. Bijan, Roschon and Brooks covered up some stuff.

WR/TE

I covered Golden’s absence and its impact above. He played a great game and his impact down the stretch for this offense was tremendous. He’s a much better and more complete receiver than I thought and I thought pretty highly of him coming in from Houston. He’ll be greatly missed and his absence during the game was tangibly felt.

Some of that load without Golden was put on Wingo but his youth and Ohio State’s ability to commit key penalties to prevent big plays hurt him and the offense’s big play potential over the top. Bond was a net negative and the staff wasn’t counting on him coming into the game. Murphy’s Law had other ideas. He was pressed into action and could have been a wildcard hero, but his rehab has probably been for the combine, not the Longhorns.

Silas Bolden did what he always did when given an opportunity. He caught a ball for 24 yards on his only target. I regret that he wasn’t utilized more. Deandre Moore was targeted 6 times for 4 catches and 31 yards underneath. Helm didn’t get involved until late and he showed out with 42 yards and a 2 catches, including his penalized point after clowning Caleb Downs.

I think Golden’s absence had some trickle down coverage effects on Helm for portions of this game, but I would have loved to have schemed him up more. Play action blocking from both tight ends and the running backs was not good. Some of that pressure attributed to the OL on the broadcast was actually on them. Have I ever mentioned that I hate asking tight ends to block 260 pound NFL defensive ends on play action?

OL

I was mad at Cam Williams until I rewatched the Sawyer play a couple of times and now I just feel bad for him. That’s a guy with a knee injury who lost his mobility over the course of the game and couldn’t even bend into an athletic position. He had to lunge bent at the waist. He ended up giving up two sacks and five pressures. He actually run blocked successfully somehow.

Banks and Majors played well. The rest of the OL struggled. Cole Hutson had a poor playoffs. Several Longhorns – most notably Hayden Conner – really struggled with pad level in the run game. Our lack of auxiliary personnel showed up. There are no recruiting high fives here and it doesn’t get the fans excited, but there’s a lot of situational value in situational powerhouse blocking tight ends and a 5-11, 250 pound fullback who can hammer linebackers but also a catch an open ball in the flat.

Final

Once again, the Texas Longhorn end their season a few feet from the end zone with a chance to play for the national title. I had much more confidence in the Texas defense being effective against the Ohio State offense than this matchup. Ohio State’s defense is talented, but also schemed well and in somewhat novel ways. However, I thought our base passing game plan was good. Sark did a nice job of unraveling a tricky scheme and putting them into conflict.

Golden’s injury and general game friction – some self-inflicted, some because Ohio State gets a vote – limited the offense’s ultimate effectiveness, but Texas was on the right track. Unfortunately, being able to run when you need to run is important for complete offenses. This isn’t a complete offense. A bitter loss, but it caps yet another successful season under Sark. Onward and upward.

(Scipio Tex) Ohio State Postmortem: Defense/Special Teams

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The Texas defensive staff implemented a winning game plan and the Texas defense brought the fight on the field, but unfortunately a strong defensive effort was betrayed by a couple of critical mistakes (the killer Henderson screen, the 4th quarter Howard 4th and 2 run conversion that led to a touchdown) and a Longhorn offense that couldn’t give a rested defense the opportunity to win the game late.

Ohio State 2.0 came into the semifinal averaging 41.5 points per game and 486.5 yards per game at over 8 yards per play against a pair of Top 15 playoff defenses. With those stats held down by running the ball late. More importantly, their offense had been coming out firing, staking the Buckeyes to 21-10 and 34-0 halftime leads on explosive plays that made the second half of each contest largely a clock-running exhibition.

The Buckeyes led Tennessee 35-10 and Oregon 41-15 going into the 4th quarter. Buried. In Dallas, it was 14 all going into the final stanza. The Longhorn defense is the reason. Ohio State scored 21 offensive points, were held under 400 yards of offense and if you throw out the back-breaking screen play before the end of the first half, they averaged 5.3 yards per play for the game while All-Galaxy freshman WR Jeremiah Smith had one catch for 3 yards. He had 161 at halftime against Oregon.

Unfortunately, we don’t get to throw out the single play backbreakers. In my previews, I posited that Ohio State’s December offensive refurbishment had lost its novelty and what they’d become was now apparent. I thought our best path to victory was on defense. The Longhorn brain trust needed to craft a game plan that kept safeties deep, played zone, doubled Smith (and specifically exploited his inexperience against diverse coverage), stopped the run with 6, and had to make Howard hold the ball to exploit a shaky Ohio State offensive line.

Checks all down the line. It didn’t feel like that on Ohio State’s first drive though, did it?

They scored a touchdown on a methodical 10 play, 64 yard march exploiting the poor execution of a good game plan with short and intermediate throws to Tate and Egbuka. Texas defenders weren’t using the safeties parked behind them as license to challenge Buckeye routes, PK wasn’t bringing enough pressure to move the pocket and we didn’t make Will Howard hold on to the ball. Everything flipped when our zone defenders realized that their off stance and the safeties standing behind them gave them permission to anticipate and our pass rushers started to get home.

Ohio State converted two big 3rd downs on that opening drive exploiting passive coverage, but after Texas clamped down they were 1 of 8 on 3rd down for the rest of the game. Clamp downs like this:

LB blitz paired with “off coverage” but the Texas defensive backs sit on the first down line and don’t allow an easy throw. Howard holds the ball an extra beat. Sack. Texas got into the flow and figured out the tactical implementation of the overarching strategy late in Ohio State’s second possession and the Buckeyes had four consecutive punts (including effectively three 3 and outs) before the fatal Henderson screen.

Despite the fervent opinion of Game Thread Man, PK didn’t bring numbers or blitz recklessly. It’s a three man rush with Guilbeau coming from the nickel. We’re also in dime. A series of errors cascaded and gave an explosive NFL running back a de facto punt return wall up the sideline. The players have some culpability to read screen there. If a QB is retreating that much, it needs to trigger your Spidey Sense. Trey Moore does his job to finish his pressure, but Guilbeau needs to be backpedaling and identifying once he sees and feels what’s happening.

Second level defenders like Anthony Hill should be simply mirroring the ball – where is he? – while any third level defender not directly covering a Buckeye should be sprinting to green when they read obvious screen. I don’t know how so many eyes got lost. Just one of those plays. I’m less forgiving on the Will Howard conversion. I knew they were going to run him – I just wasn’t sure if it was going to be on power or from empty.

We lost that one by formation. Howard had no choice but to convert and he should have run for a touchdown. Outnumbered and out-leveraged at the snap. Gotta get a time out there and you have to understand Chip Kelly’s mindset. It’s a particularly bitter pill to swallow knowing that drive was previously extended by a pair of egregious uncalled holding penalties on Simmons and Broughton right in front of the referee.

PK substituted liberally early and often, integrating guys like Vasek, Gbenda and January for real snaps. He was preparing for a game decided in the 4th quarter or overtime. So if Texas had notched it up at 21 or even had 2:00 with timeouts to play defense on Ohio State’s 7 yard line down 7 if Ewers had thrown it out of the back of the end zone on 4th down, the key pass rushers on the starting defense had no mileage on them.

Collins finished the game with 29 snaps, Broughton 31, Simmons 32. The Texas defensive staff managed the entire game to stop Ohio State’s last possession and were never given that opportunity.

Defensive Line

Good game overall. They started to whip the Buckeye offensive line for long stretches once coverage started forcing Howard to hold the ball behind them. They also held up against the run with no safety help (by design) and some fairly poor off-the-ball linebacker play down-to-down (not by design). I would have liked to have seen better red zone clamps on the Buckeye running game, but credit to Ohio State for offering a legitimate passing threat in the red zone and forcing us to play fairly honest with some of their RPO and glance stuff.

January drew a personal foul like a veteran and Vasek had some terrific snaps, including drawing a holding call on a Ohio State toss play that effectively destroyed their drive. Broughton and Simmons were particular standouts in pass rush and they both would have had more than one sack or derailed more Buckeye drives if the officials wanted to call holding.

The choice to “let them play” (let them hold) even if equally applied to both sides inordinately rewarded Ohio State. Sometimes that’s just how it goes. Simmons finished with a sack, 2 batted balls and 4 tackles with about a half dozen uncalled holds. Broughton had a terrific sack and three additional pressures. Sorrell added a sack of his own.

Linebacker

David Gbenda gave us some terrific snaps in limited action.

Getting a drop that deep on play action in front of Smith is excellent football. In addition to that great interception, he had a flawless scrape and tackle to shut down an Ohio State short yardage attempt. #33 went out with a bang. The rest of the unit didn’t play well. Hill struggled with recognition in the playoffs though he still fired around the field with bad intentions.

Lefau needs to get in the weight room and his run fits were poor. He missed two tackles. He got slower and weaker as the year progressed. Blackwell, Hill and Lefau were all targeted in the passing game as well. Aside from Gbenda, the second level of the Texas defense struggled.

Defensive Backs

A very good job overall. Tate and Egbuka hurt us at times – as expected – but taking Smith out of the game was huge and something that no other defense has done all year, at least after the Buckeyes decided to start making him Target 1A.

It goes beyond double teams – in several zone looks, we didn’t have a dedicated double team but rather asked guys to shade and recognize where he was in the formation and just give him extra attention. Smith struggled to understand how he was being guarded and clearly felt much more comfortable against man coverage or at least knowing where help was going to come from. We never let him get comfortable. Three targets, one catch, three yards.

Manny Muhammad had a nice rally from some poor prior games and gave up only 18 yards on 5 targets. Guilbeau got hit underneath 5 times, but no big plays allowed against a stud slot receiver and he had a terrific TFL on a screen. Missed two tackles. Chip Kelly avoided Barron like the plague. 2 targets, 7 yards. Taaffe did a nice job in recognition and influencing routes from depth, but he missed too many tackles or took bad angles in run support from depth down the stretch. I think he wore down over the season, not unexpected for a 190 pound safety who probably lost weight in season.

Ohio State was 6 of 6 on screens for 100 yards and a touchdown, including their back breaker before the half. In their standard drop back passing game downfield, Howard went 18 of 27 for 189 yards with an interception and three sacks. The most feared downfield passing game in the playoffs went 0 for 2 on deep shots. We just had too many quality bodies back there for them and PK trusted his guys to settle into the game plan.

The game plan worked. The Texas defensive backs won most of the game. It’s very frustrating that it couldn’t be rewarded on the scoreboard.

Special Teams

Benching Auburn made sense. Good riddance. Not actually letting Stone kick and adopting aggressive 4th down strategies made even more sense. Props to Kern. He averaged just under 44 a kick and put good air under his balls to force fair catches. Silas Bolden encapsulated his full experience with a great punt return that was stripped and that he, of course, recovered. If that Ohio State coverage guy’s arm doesn’t get in there and jar the ball loose, he might’ve housed that.

Final Thoughts

The Texas defense took a possession and a half to settle in and lost two key leverage moments that were consequential, but they dealt the most explosive offense in the nation several setbacks, halved the Buckeyes playoff scoring production and singlehandedly kept Texas in it. I wish they could have had one more possession to win the game. It was right there for the taking.

 

  • Hook 'Em 4
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